Trekkies are, of course, not merely fans of "Star Trek," but those who
are devoted enough to attend conventions, often in costume and makeup,
who write fanzines, create websites, and seem to subsume their entire
lives in the universe created by Gene Roddenberry.

William Shatner -- who was not interviewed by director/editor Roger
Nygard -- infamously told a bunch of actors playing Trekkies on an
episode of Saturday Night Live to "Get a life!" Those outside the
phenomenon applauded this, assuming that Shatner was right on the mark:
these people are wasting their lives in their devotion to a mere TV and
movie series.

But as this surprisingly touching documentary shows clearly, these
people do have lives, thank you very much, and "Star Trek" is only a
part of their lives, even if a very important part. Almost all the many
Trekkies/Trekkers interviewed here have a healthy, realistic attitude
about their beloved series. Some have actually turned their interest to
good works, raising money for charities and the like. Only a small
handful of the Trekkies Denise Crosby -- herself a star of Star Trek:
The Next Generation -- interviews seem to have crossed the line from
interest to fanaticism. (The word "fan," incidentally, does not derive
from "fanatic," even though a Trekkie/psychologist interviewed here
claims it does. It comes from the British racing track term "fancier.")

The film does focus pretty closely on one of these who may have gone a
bit far. Barbara Adams of Little Rock, Arkansas, made national news by
insisting on wearing her Starfleet uniform while serving as a juror in
one of the Watergate trials. (She was eventually dismissed.) She does
have a life, working in a copy shop, but she seems to be living more in
the imaginary Star Trek future.

But most of the Trekkies aren't like her. One of the ways that Nygard,
who's a hell of an editor, demonstrates this is through interviews with
many of the actors connected with the four Trek TV series. Each of them
has clearly gone through a period of assuming that the fans of the show
were one step above idiots, and come out realizing that Trekkies are
not just pretty much like everyone else, but in some ways, better. It's
hard to argue against the ideals the show embodies -- honesty,
equality, courage and imagination. Many of the Trek fans clearly have
adopted these ideals into their everyday lives.

Many of the stars of the show relate touching stories about their
encounters with fans. John DeLancie, "Q," tells of a woman he met who
was so crippled she could barely even speak, but managed to tell him
that for the hour she watched the show, she could forget the body in
which she was imprisoned. Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton, took
his name from a dying young man who was a devoted fan of the original
series. But no one tops James Doohan's astonishing tale; you should see
the film just to see him tell it.

Of course, the film also deals with the wackier elements of Trekdom;
it's a bit startling to see a woman costumed as a Klingon, with a
magnificent cleavage, mentioning that she's a kindergarten teacher. Dr.
Dennis Bourguignon, a dentist of Orlando, Florida, has outfitted his
entire office in Trek style (but isn't that R2D2 from "Star Wars" in a
corner), which is both a bit alarming and oddly attractive. Bourguignon
himself has a cheerful, funny attitude toward the whole thing; if I
lived in Orlando, he'd be MY dentist.

The documentary is well-edited but not very well structured; it jumps
around a lot, trying to cover a very rich, well-developed phenomenon
with dozens of aspects in less than 90 minutes. It touches on the
interest some fans have in the Klingon language, on the amazing
pornographic "K/S" (also called "Slash") fan fiction, the gifts fans
send the stars, the town in Iowa that's declared itself the future
birthplace of James T. Kirk (as well as Vulcan, Alberta). There's a lot
of footage -- really too much -- shot at conventions, which tend to
look alike.

The heart of the film is really the interviews. Among those who have a
chance to speak are Majel Barrett Roddenberry, widow of Gene and a Trek
star herself, Buzz Aldrin, Grace Lee Whitney, Trek expert Richard
Arnold, producer Brannon Braga, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Michael
Dorn, makeup artist Michael Westmore, Kate Mulgrew and others. At one
point, several people -- fans and professionals alike -- struggle with
the distinction between "Trekkie" and "Trekker," without any of them
getting it right.

Finally, it is a fan who gets in the most descriptive line. The movie
interviews young Gabriel Koerner, 14 when the movie was made, as a kind
of representative of all the fans who are otherwise only briefly
interviewed. He visits a convention with his father (also a Trek fan),
shows off his collection, and finally talks about his life in Trekdom.
He was happy to visit the convention, he says, because he met "gorgeous
people who really know how to place 'Star Trek' in the proper context
with the rest of their lives."

Despite a few freakshow-like glances -- the transvestite Trekkie, the
guy who bought the Q virus, etc. -- this too is the focus of
"Trekkies." It's a touching, funny and very thorough look at people who
love "Star Trek," but who clearly know how to make it work in their
lives.

more details

sound format:

English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)

aspect ratio(s):

Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

special features:

Extras are scant, mostly scene selection, a trailer, and English subtitles for the hard of hearing